[ecrea] CFP for SCMS 2015: Panel abstracts ‘Reimagining the Cinematic Monster’

Call for Abstracts for the proposed panel: Reimagining the Cinematic Monster

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference Montreal March 25-29 2015.

It is increasingly evident that the concept and representation of the monster is changing. No longer is there a clear-cut division between good and evil, monstrous and human. Monstrosity is now hybrid and ambiguous. As Pinedo (1996, 21) explains, the postmodern horror genre blurs and problematises the boundaries between the human and the monstrous. Moreover, the ‘proximity of monsters to humans – to us – means that familiar tropes and conventions from melodrama are used to negotiate the all-too-human areas of family, sexuality, friendship and work’ (Jowett and Abbott, 2013, 111). And as Carroll (1990, 41) points out, monsters are ‘beings that do not exist according to the lights of contemporary science. Monsters need not be ugly or grotesque’, but may pose a threat morally, socially or psychologically, or ‘seek to destroy the moral order’.
This panel aims to explore these boundaries and examine questions around the reimagining of monstrosity, the shifts in moral ambiguity, the representation and evolution of the monster, and hybridity. More specifically, it proposes to examine the following themes:

-  the contemporary reimagining of monstrosity
-  the morally ambiguous protagonist and human monster
-  evolution and revision of archetypal monsters (zombies, vampires, werewolves; ghosts) in film
-  hybridity and the cinematic monster.

We also welcome papers in the following categories:

- The Human monster: exploring monstrousness in films such as Wolf Creek and The Human Centipede;
- The Undead (zombies, vampires, werewolves): examining the location of horror in films such as Warm Bodies, Afflicted, Underworld, Only Lovers Left Alive, Let the Right One In, Warm Bodies, Zombieland, 28 Days Later
- The Supernatural: where monstrousness can be represented by any character from human to doppelganger to psychic, and may include films such as The Conjuring or Hansel and Gretel.

The panel will limit submissions to those focusing on monsters from Western horror movies produced post-2000.

Paper abstracts are due August 17th. Please email:
(emma.somogyi /at/ qut.edu.au)
with your abstract of 250-300 words, a bibliography of 3-5 sources, and a brief biographical statement.

Authors will need to apply for, or renew, their SCMS membership by August 28th 2014.
http://www.cmstudies.org/?page=upcoming_conference



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